TORONTO — After an extremely poor showing season two years ago, Rachel Clow was set to quit showing cattle completely.

“I worked really hard and had a really bad year and I wasn’t going to come back,” said Clow, whose family farms at Seeley’s Bay in Frontenac County. “I had a very ugly heifer which did not get along with me whatsoever, so we didn’t click in the ring. I was frustrated, I was fed up, I was downhearted. I tried so hard and it didn’t show anywhere.”

But Frontenac 4-H graduate Teddy Brown convinced Clow to keep showing and the two worked together to improve Clow’s chances.

Clow was named grand champion 4-H showperson at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto last month. It took a couple of minutes before the win sunk in for Clow.

“I didn’t think I was going to get grand,” said the 20-year-old. “When I first realized I had actually won was when I was coming out of the ring, my county met me in the corner and they all jumped me and group hugged me. That’s when I started to cry. Brown came around and she was already crying, so that made me cry even more.”

Clow, in her third year of studying forensic science and biology at Trent University, said Brown was instrumental in the victory. Not only did Brown convince Clow to keep on showing, Clow’s calf at the Royal, Lilyking Doorman Anais, is owned by Brown.

“She helped me get to where I am supposed to be,” said Clow. “She taught me how to stay calm. That’s probably the biggest thing. Because if you’re not calm, your calf’s not going to be calm either.”

A grand champion showperson at the Royal is not eligible to win a second time. Clow’s next goal is to show the conformation calf at the Royal.